NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Program (S-STEM)

The NSF S-STEM program enables academically talented, low-income students to pursue successful careers in promising STEM fields. The program seeks to increase the number of academically promising low-income students who graduate with an S-STEM eligible degree and contribute to the American innovation economy with their STEM knowledge. Recognizing that financial aid alone cannot increase retention and graduation in STEM, the program provides awards to institutions of higher education (IHEs) not only to fund scholarships, but also to adapt, implement, and study evidence-based curricular and co-curricular activities that have been shown to be effective in supporting recruitment, retention, transfer (if appropriate), student success, academic/career pathways, and graduation in STEM. The program offers three tracks: Track 1 (Institutional Capacity Building) for institutions without recent S-STEM or STEP awards, Track 2 (Implementation Projects) open to all eligible IHEs, and Track 3 (Inter-institutional Consortia) for multi-institutional collaborations. Eligible scholars must be domestic low-income students with academic ability, talent, or potential and demonstrated unmet financial need who are enrolled in an associate, baccalaureate, or graduate degree program in an S-STEM eligible discipline.